Letter on behalf of Mark Tilbrook to Sally Morgan

Today, 14 October 2014, Robert Dougans and Serena Cooke of Bryan Cave wrote a letter on behalf of Mark Tilbrook to Sally Morgan’s solicitor Graham Atkins. In a spirit of openness, the text of that letter is below:

Dear Sirs,

Your client: Sally Morgan

We have been instructed by Mr Mark Tilbrook and we understand that you act for Sally Morgan. We write further to the statement placed on Sally Morgan’s website at http://www.sallymorgan.tv/sme-statement/ and facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sallymorgantv last Friday, 10 October 2014.

It appears that the statement is both misleading and inaccurate. We set out the various sections of the statement which do not present an accurate or true version of events and request that the statement be amended accordingly.

Inaccurate/Misleading Statements

The sentence “On several occasions theatre staff have had to call the police in order to get him removed” is both inaccurate and misleading. Mark Tilbrook did nothing more than peacefully distribute leafets in public. Regardless of whether any individual did or did not call the police, he was never removed from one of Sally Morgan’s shows by the police. In fact, Mark Tilbrook never once saw the police whilst he was peacefully and legally leafleting outside of Sally Morgan’s shows. The statement is misleading because it causes a reader to infer that Mr Tilbrook was engaging in illegal activity which either warranted removal by the Police or did in fact result in his removal by the Police.

Please correct the statement immediately, and issue a clarification to those who have been misled.

The statement “Given the abuse Sally has endured over the past three years, which have included severe death threats and incidences of stalking; Sally was left fearing for her own safety once again” is also misleading. Whilst Sally Morgan may have endured such treatment, she did not endure it because of any action taken by Mr Tilbrook. In the previous sentence the only individual referred to is our client who is referred to by name, and described as someone who “targets” your client’s shows and engages in behaviour which requires police intervention. On any ordinary reading of the two sentences the failure of Mrs Morgan to identify any other perpetrator of such illegal activity would cause a reader to infers that Mark Tilbrook made death threats and stalked your client. This is untrue and highly damaging. It is clear that this meaning has been inferred by numerous readers of the statement from the following comments (by way of example only):

NAME REDACTED“I can understand everyone is entitled to their opinion but this guy needs to take a step back and see what he is really trying to achieve by his actions. If you don’t believe make your point once and back off. She is not the only medium out there. I think he should of been done by police with a warning you can’t issue death threats to people. 19 hours ago

NAME REDACTEDSally u are a good woman u try to help people whose lost dear people in thier life …u give people a sense of direction . Your partner and son are only sticking up for you against a stalker. Big hugs to u and your family keep safe xx October 11 at 1:34pm

NAME REDACTEDSally Stalking is an offence please call the national stalking helpline for advice. No one should have to put up with this kind of targeted harassment. This is a serous matter and it can be stopped. I am a victim of stalking so I know how obsessed that person can get so please take care of both of you. October 10 at 10:24am

NAME REDACTEDGood on ya john nd we love u sally. People like this should b locked up for a long time specially wen the victim is in distress over their actions October 10 at 9:49am

NAME REDACTEDHow about apologizing for what he said and the threats he made? October 12 at 2:39pm

NAME REDACTEDWhat a load of rubbish. This guy is clearly pushing all the buttons to wind this up ..then record it ( surprisingly) and now play victim.. I have heard people say this to people on nights out its through frustration … They have clearly had a gutful of his ridicules pathetic behaviours and threats . I can’t stand people that act this way then squirm and play victim. 19 hours ago

Please correct the statement immediately, and issue a clarification to those who have been misled.

The statements refers to “several occasions”, “continual presence”, “persistent hounding” and Mr Morgan’s “concern for Sally” in relation to Mr Tilbrook leafleting outside of her shows, and puts all of this forward as justification for Mr Morgan’s behaviour. This is misleading to the reader. Mr Tilbrook has never met Mrs Morgan or attempted to meet her. However, Mr Tilbrook was approached and threatened by Mr Morgan at the very first show that he attended in March 2014 (a fact which is acknowledged by Mr Morgan in footage taken at the second show). The published video is taken from the third show that our client attended. Prior to these occasions, Mr Tilbrook had never contacted Mrs Morgan or anyone connected with her in any way. It is therefore clear that Mr Morgan’s actions were not provoked by Mr Tilbrook’s “persistent hounding” as inferred by the context of the article. It is clear that such conduct is being inferred of our client from the statement by the following comments:

NAME REDACTEDThe fact of the matter is that the person who filmed you has been provoking you and publicly slating you for a very long time and such a horrible man who has no idea about the ability that you have. 18 hour ago

NAME REDACTEDI don’t agree with what was said but this bloke has harassed them for a long time n someone had to say something, just a shame it’s now affecting her whole life which is exactly what these people wanted x 19 hours ago

NAME REDACTEDEveryone says things in the heat of the moment and he was actualy deffending sally.not saying what was said was right but by the sounds of it the guy has been harassing them for a long time so provocation is also a factor!!!! 19 hours ago

NAME REDACTEDFirstly Sally is not a fortune teller nor does she predict the future to those of you saying she should have seen it coming…secondly Sally is not a physic she is a medium…and Lastly, this man has been hounding Sally for a long time, removed by the police on a number of occasions and harassed theatre staff and the members of the public…yes what they did was wrong but maybe John and Dean were at the end of there tether with this man. 17 hours ago

Please correct these statements immediately, and issue a clarification to those who have been misled.

It appears that Ms Morgan or her employees are moderating the comments on her facebook page, since a number of comments have been removed (as referred to in by comments at 10:33am on 10 October, 2:07am on 11 October and 6:48pm on 12 October). We are therefore surprised that the following comments have not been removed since they contain information which Ms Morgan knows to be false/inaccurate and/or misleading:

NAME REDACTEDGood on john!! Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,but trying to ram it down people’s throat,to the point of threats and possible violence,is not acceptable,john was just standing up for and protecting his love,he should be applauded! October 10 at 10:45am

NAME REDACTEDLooked at the video, obv years of this guy outside venues handing out leaflets and it’s came to a head, can’t blame them for being angry 18 hour ago

NAME REDACTEDI have no idea what has gone on here but from your last post this guy been pushing your johns button a lot over 3 years he might have said something out of line through anger but he was trying to protect u my partner would have done the same plz don’t throw away your marriage cos of an idiot I’m sure like u said john would never normally do anything like this so it’s one off protecting the woman he loves very much same for your son in law xxx 19 hours ago

NAME REDACTEDSally I’m sorry to hear your feeling like this but I think you are being a little hasty! John and Daren did what any other husband and son in law would do after their family member taking years of stalking and unreasonable behaviour from someone like Mark and quite frankly any other husband would have knocked him out so fair play to John in having that restraint, don’t think my husband would have been so withdrawn on that matter. You need your family around you just now, don’t worry what the public thinks just remember, if it’s not broken don’t fix it, and your marriage is far from broken x 19 hours ago

NAME REDACTEDafter all the stress you have all been through with this guy sending you threats and following you round all your shows i dont blame the guys for using threatening or violent behaviour dont sack them for it. pat them on the back they were only doing it to protect you. and dont throw your marriage away because your husband was trying to protect you. thats uncalled for. 19 hours ago

Please explain why Ms Morgan has felt able to leave this material on the internet despite removing other material.

The effect of the above statements is to infer that Mr Tilbrook instigated the vile and threatening abuse he suffered, and that his conduct somehow warranted such behaviour by Mr Morgan.

We can only hope that Mrs Morgan did not intend for her statement to give rise to such misleading impressions about Mr Tilbrook’s behaviour. We accordingly look forward to Mrs Morgan setting the record straight as soon as possible before this spreads further on the internet. We note that the Independent newspaper has today published an article which quotes Ms Morgan’s accusation of “persistent hounding” by Mr Tilbrook.